diff --git a/build/pkgs/igraph/spkg-configure.m4 b/build/pkgs/igraph/spkg-configure.m4
index 0b2ab48d6c9..5133fce98da 100644
--- a/build/pkgs/igraph/spkg-configure.m4
+++ b/build/pkgs/igraph/spkg-configure.m4
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 SAGE_SPKG_CONFIGURE([igraph], [
   SAGE_SPKG_DEPCHECK([glpk openblas gmp], [
     dnl check for igraph with pkg-config
-    PKG_CHECK_MODULES([IGRAPH], [igraph >= 0.10.8 igraph < 0.11], [], [
+    dnl Per upstream in https://github.com/sagemath/sage/pull/36750#issuecomment-1826998762:
+    dnl each python-igraph release is only guaranteed to be compatible with the same C/igraph that it bundles
+    PKG_CHECK_MODULES([IGRAPH], [igraph >= 0.10.8 igraph < 0.10.9], [], [
         sage_spkg_install_igraph=yes])
   ])
 ])